Hosive

i am away at a retreat so please enjoy this old school pic i found at my aunts when we went over for april’s wedding. i am rocking the bow tie.

these have been epic days in the magical fall. i got to do my cousin april’s wedding to ming chen….her mom, is my aunt and former roommate when we cantonese packed it in after arriving to the country. i barely get to see my mom’s side due to real and imagined reasons and logistics but it was good for my soul to be able to help out my family since i spend so much of my life giving to those i’m not related to. grateful that i’ve had so many more connections at the cousins level since returning into the city. that part of my life is almost a black hole but this weekend was a spark. an epic spark.

we took the opportunity of dressing up and being together to take some family shots. these pics and days are also rare. part of my magical fall so far.

since theresa found out that she was pregnant, i have declined all speaking engagements floated my way. for the near future, no retreats, no conferences, no workshops, no other pulpits. so if you see me at a gig near you, it is an imposter. or its something related to my own church! those appearances are part of my job! i did keep the commitments i made before zoe but now i am finished.

the exception is weddings. i can take the whole family and i am not gone for days at a time apart from theresa and zoe. they are also part of my job or they involve some sweet reunions with former students and congregation members. here is my first wedding post zoe turning 3(months)….praying at mikey and kati’s….not the meal prayer which is zero fun….shushing people or allowing the lord’s name to be trampled….but the prayer for the couple which is rich, personal and deeply meaningful.

i want to do family right. this slows me down so that i can figure out how.

it is hot and i don’t like it.

i await the coolness, the briskness of the fall.

i find my safety and my salvation in the fall. the fall has conditioned asians for renewal…school reboots, new blood, new classes, new life, new possibilities.

i fear the summer. some of the hardest, darkest days for me were in the summer.

but i have remembered wrong. some of the most joyous, electric days have also been in the summer. i have let a few blackouts ruin the almost overwhelmingly good: my wedding day. the efcon summers. the cbc wave after wave of service and missions. and this summer, when my zoe was born.

and not all septembers have brought life….i think back to that sept all new yorkers think of nearly, 8 years ago when there was a cloud on the new york skyline.

and not every fall is magical..some come and go.

i do hate the heat though….i haven’t misremembered that. nor the humidity.

but the weather may have broken…..so i await.

i’ve read that boy’s haircuts on girls are all the rage. i think i returned the favor.

i took zoe to see dr. mike, my longtime barber of 20something years. theresa gave him directions and this is what we got. the haircut looked familiar and then i realized dr. mike gave me michelle’s haircut.

keep in mind that mich’s do is much more sophisticated than mine and she is much more gwenyth paltrow than i am. but methinks i got the boy version of the girl version of this boy do.

regardless, i am still the apple of zoe’s eye.

strangely, though we say that giving gifts is not a primary love language for either of us….and we say we don’t want to receive gifts and promise not to give gifts for holidays and anniversaries or birthdays, we almost always give each other something. maybe its more that we don’t want the other person to get us monumental expensive gifts. little gifts….small winks and reminder type gifts seem to be our style.

technically, theresa did not get her first mother’s day since zoe was not born yet. but i got her something anyway. something mama related and something she would enjoy playing…the new entry in the nintendo mama gaming empire. she loves her ds…the best gift i’ve ever gotten for her, years ago.

she got me a literal token gift…..token cuff links. we don’t use the metal coins anymore in the city with our metrocard system in place so these are prety nostalgic for me from when i used them as a kid.

during pregnancy, guys are gently teased that the baby may not be theirs. those jokes evaporated a few days after zoe was born because she had some facial features that some recognized as mine.

but this….seals it:

a quick glance may have you aw-ing over a daddy holding his baby girl’s hand……

except its her foot with her mutant finger toes. just like the ones daddy has.

yup….she’s my baby.

before zoe was born, i promised not to go nuts on pics once she was….maybe one update a week on baby….with one for mommy and(maybe)one on daddy…..

how’s daddy doing this week?

we are home! and i’m relieved to be out of the hospital. uncle victor picked us up, gave zoe her first car ride; then snapped this pic in front of our place. glad to be home!

daddy is grateful that vision church gave him 2 weeks to care for his baby and sweet t. been shepherding other people including other people’s children for so long, its a strange feeling to care for my very own. ready for the crush(maybe).

orange is the color.

Posted under poppa tsang

when our daughter is born, i promise not to go nuts on pics…..maybe one update a week on baby….with another one for mommy and(maybe)one on daddy…..this week, we’ll do another test run of this.

what’s daddy doing this week?

having jaq jaq around, we got to practice being parents in the city including looking for kid friendly things to do. here we are at the central park zoo…a tiny expensive zoo by comparison to other joints but an oasis in gotham for kids with monkeys, penguins, sea lions, pigs, goats, feedings and (some)open spaces.

theresa made me do this.

when our daughter is born, i promise not to go nuts on pics…..maybe one update a week on baby….with one for mommy and(maybe)one on daddy…..so this week, we’ll do a test run of this.

how’s daddy doing this week? not bad….actually pretty darn good after receiving the new u2 album: rich man’s edition. here’s mommy capturing the moment.

is the uber-deluxe version worth it? pretty unlikely especially with that deluxe exclusive poster in the middle of the post…of a cloud??? its the no line on the horizon nonsense.(now that blue photo……that one is pretty cool) but like my boy, chris low, said…..”dude, this is your band. i know which version of the album you’re getting.”

i guess he was right.

how about the music? it is a u2 grower. most u2 albums take some time to warm up to me. or vice versa. the more i listen, the more things i like. i like the songs in theory but will they be like radiohead songs that i appreciate but only listen to in the fall?  a key is seeing the songs live. studio versions are snap shots of the music…..its like a picture of the ocean…and then seeing the ocean. so i look forward to the tour.

Posted under baby, poppa tsang